


Days and Nights

by petercapaldiscoiffure



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-22
Updated: 2014-04-22
Packaged: 2018-01-20 09:29:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1505375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petercapaldiscoiffure/pseuds/petercapaldiscoiffure
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just another love story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Days and Nights

**Author's Note:**

> A short thing written pretty quickly. Post-ME3.

         **T** he first night, of course, not much changes. Garrus wakes to find nothing more than rumpled sheets and the lingering scents of salt, that singularly human quirk, and something he thinks might be flowers. Later, when he’s in the shower and feeling more relaxed than he has in months, he’s almost sad to watch the water circling the drain, the strange scent no doubt following.

The third time, he’s flat worn out and sleeps through damn near his whole day off. When he finally wakes up long enough to use the bathroom and ponder the pros and cons of takeout, he thinks he can almost recall the ghost of soft lips across his brow.

The seventh time? Again, it’s sheets and sweat and flowers he couldn’t begin to name, but as he shuffles into the bathroom he spies something different - a peculiarly shaped implement he vaguely recalls from that fight on the Normandy, rescuing Shepard’s baby from her own clone. He blinks once, twice, before recalling Traynor’s toothbrush - the unsung hero of the day. Of course, this isn’t Traynor’s toothbrush, and as he picks it up to examine it, he’s fairly certain that it doesn’t cost - what was it, six thousand credits? His mandibles flutter a bit, and as he puts it down he thinks to himself that it’s good to know his recent bed partner has enough sense not to waste good credits on a damn toothbrush. He shakes his head as he flips the shower spray on and steps under the warmth of the water -  _six thousand creds. Spirits_.

The twelfth night, she’s just gotten into the station for a deal and he’s recently back from a quick trip out to Palaven to see his sister wed. It’d been a good time, he’d missed his family more than he realized. But maybe he’d missed her more than expected, too, because when he opens his eyes to soft snores and that scent of flowers curled into his side, his belly flares with something warm he’s not quite sure he’s ready to think about. So he doesn’t, but later he’ll watch her dressing to leave and the urge to grab her by the waist when she leans down to press a kiss to his scars is almost overwhelming. Instead, though, he stretches and asks her what the scent of her perfume is. She quirks a brow, and smiles -  _oh, rose, mostly. Old-fashioned, but I’ve always liked it. It’s got a certain something, you know?_ She pauses, reaches over to give his nose a playful tap. _It’s not making your nose itch, is it_? No, he replies, mandibles flaring -  _just curious_. Later, when he’s brushing his teeth, he remembers the rose she left on his desk when she’d first looked him up, an old calling card, she’d said. And he recalls now that she’d had them in her lounge on the SR2.  He has to laugh. She’s got her quirks, he can’t deny that.

The fifteenth night - well, afternoon really - she sticks around long enough to complain about his apartment not having a bathtub, and then longer still for Garrus to prove that showers have their uses too.

Maybe it’s the 40th night, or 50th morning, or 60th evening that she sleepily suggests that he definitely include a bathtub on his must-haves during his new apartment hunt. He doesn’t have to point out that turians don’t use soaking tubs - it’s the cowls, an accident waiting to happen - they’ve had that conversation before. But he agrees, a bathtub should go on the list. There’s some condos over in Zakera Ward, he yawns, popular with asari.  _I bet they like bathtubs. I’ll look into it, schedule an appointment_. But she’s already snoring, her back rising gently with each breath. He pulls the blanket higher up over her shoulders and soon his own whistles join her sleepy chorus.

Later, too many mornings and evenings and witching hours to be counted, Garrus wakes to pale light slanting through the curtains and the rush of water coming from the bathroom, the bustle of Zakera Ward greeting his ears. He closes his eyes for just a little longer, and he knows that when he gets up he’ll walk in to find Kasumi soaking in her tub, all long slender limbs and expanses of warm skin slowly turning pink from the heat. And he’ll brush his teeth and she’ll splash at him while she takes advantage of his being too busy to respond. Maybe she’ll step out and join him when he gets into the shower stall - she does, usually. From there? Food for them and the cat, errands, a little playful bickering, a movie she’s been wanting to take him to - the stuff of any old weekend. He’s looking forward to it. But for now, he’s content to lay there for a while longer yet, dreaming and breathing in the scent of skin and roses.


End file.
